carbon footprint

American

noun

the amount of carbon dioxide or other carbon compounds emitted into the atmosphere by the activities of an individual, company, country, etc..

the carbon footprint of an overseas flight;
how to measure your carbon footprint.

carbon footprint British

noun

a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by a single endeavour or by a company, household, or individual through day-to-day activities over a given period

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of carbon footprint

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"They're kind of the wicked stepmother of flowers... with the biggest carbon footprint, instead, look to try and buy some beautiful British flowers," she said.

From BBC

A new border tax will penalize imports based on their carbon footprint, but it isn’t clear how exactly that will work in this complicated supply chain, said Matthew Thoelke of Chemical Market Analytics.

From The Wall Street Journal

One would hate to see the carbon footprint of these AI trials.

From Los Angeles Times

Akira and her mom had come here from California—by train, to reduce their carbon footprint—so Akira could experience the rally in person.

From Literature

It said on average a real Christmas tree produces about 3.5kg of carbon dioxide emissions, but a 2m tree sent to landfill without its roots can have a carbon footprint of 16kg.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023